


Classical Rock

by zombz_comz



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Angst, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Leogami, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Mutual Pining, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-02-23 12:28:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23711503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombz_comz/pseuds/zombz_comz
Summary: Leon Kuwata is in his second year of college.  He has great friends and is working to get a degree in music like he's always wanted.  But things like unexpected crushes come up, and sometimes it messes with people's heads.  Especially when it's the guy from your high school who is set to inherit his family's business and wealth, and you're just an ex baseball player who can play guitar.  But he can make it work, right?
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito/Nanami Chiaki, Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo, Kirigiri Kyoko/Celestia Ludenberg, Kuwata Leon/Togami Byakuya, Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko/Soda Kazuichi, Maizono Sayaka/Naegi Makoto, Mioda Ibuki/Tsumiki Mikan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Classical Rock

A day that seemed average was slowly passing, seconds passing in a small monotonous clicking. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and a warm breeze swept through with the warm weather of early June. But Leon Kuwata wasn't outside, he was stuck in a small classroom with about 15 other students. The room was completely silent aside from the scratching of pencils and the clock. The damned clock could be heard in the silence, ticking and ticking every second. The redhead was not one to appreciate things like that, constant noise messing with his head.

Let's restart. Leon Kuwata. A standard figure, standing at 5'9 with auburn hair spiked and slicked with gel. He sported a goatee that hung down about an inch, and could be seen usually wearing things like band tees with ripped black jeans. He always donned a white jacket, spikes and patches sewed on hastily enough to get the job done. Looking at him, no one would guess that he was a familiar face in the baseball community. His skills in said sport during high school let him earn a scholarship to Hope's Peak University, a prestigious college that only let students enter that had been gifted the scholarship. It was supposed to teach students to use their talents to lead others in the world, but Leon took an unexpected turn.

The school didn't require students to stick with the talent that earned them the scholarship, and as long as there was another talent the student had that could be improved upon, they were allowed to take courses to suit them in that regard. Leon, if he was being honest, hated baseball. It was one of those things that you find out you can do really well, but slowly lose the interest in it. By the time he was in Sophomore year of high school, he was only playing because of the pressure from coaches and his own parents to keep going. But Leon Kuwata, who held a record for the fastest pitch in Japan, decided to switch his course from keeping up with baseball to be a musician. In his spare time, he would pick up a guitar that had been refurbished from a pawn shop and play. He also picked up instruments like ukulele and bass along the way, slowly but effectively learning the instruments and becoming quite good at them.

To his delight, he was able to actually get in with a few of his friends from his class and even roomed in the dorms with one of his closest friends, Mondo Owada. The biker was able to make it to the university because of his leadership skills. Granted, he obtained his skills due to being the leader of one of the most well-known biker gangs in Japan. But even through his brother's untimely death, Mondo still managed to stand tall and lead, which is probably why he was able to be admitted through "leadership". He was like Leon in a way, changing his courses to master in construction, specifically, carpentry. This is one of the ways they bonded aside from their occasional vulgar humor and music taste.

Coming back to reality, Leon had to sit there in silence, bopping his leg up and down to feel some sort of motion. He resisted the urge to take his pencil and drum it against the desk, knowing it would count as a distraction and have him fail the course. He was sure that he'd done good anyway, and didn't want it to count for nothing. The class chime rang through the room, and everyone in the room seemed to let out some sort of relieved noise, ranging from groans to a shout of excitement from the front of the room. Leon immediately knew who it was, glancing to the person it came from. Long black and white hair, blue and pink bangs and horns that defied gravity. 

"Ibuki!" Leon called, watching her swing her head back at him. Her makeup was just as good as ever, smokey eyes and black lipstick on point. Her kandi bracelets on her horns and necklace made the classic rattling sound while she moved to see Leon.

"Wassup?"

Leon got up, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "Just making sure that the meet is still on tonight. It's at six, right?" She gave him a nod that was exaggerated fully before getting up and running out the door with her messenger bag swung over her shoulder. 

The redhead felt immediately more energetic after getting to stretch his legs and take in fresh air. The day was still young, it only being three in the afternoon. He decided he wanted some coffee, and since the campus cafe wasn't too far away, he'd stop in. The shop wasn't huge, but the interior was quite nice. Full of reds, browns, and silver. He ordered a vanilla iced coffee before walking to the upstairs area, sitting at the table by the window. He grabbed a notebook out of his bag, and inside was full of blank measures to write songs. He got through a few notes and lyrics before hearing the thump of a bag and the ice of a coffee as it was set down across from him. He didn't even need to look to know who it was.

"Hey Kazu." Leon looked up, seeing Kazuichi trying to comb oil out of his hair with his hands. "Issues in the shop?"

"A motor oil container fell on me!" He looked dejected, shoving his hair in to his beanie before sitting down. "I just dyed it too, man."

Leon rolled his eyes, clicking his pen back open and doodling small drawings and notes in to the margins of the notebooks, trying to figure it all out. Kazuichi was silent for a bit before getting his attention again. "So you talked to Ibuki? Did she say anything about tonight."

"Yeah. It's still on at six." He let Kazuichi get a fist bump out of that, but didn't expect his notebook to get pulled away. "Hey-!"

Kazuichi picked it up. As much as the mechanic was nice, a lack of friendships in his childhood led to him not knowing much about personal space. Leon groaned and put his head in his hands, the pink-haired boy reading through the lyrics. "Woah man, that's some trippy shit. AND written in minor keys! You doing okay?" He handed the notebook back, Leon taking it rougher than intended and shoving it in to his bag.

"I'm good, just questioning some things I guess." He gave a stern look to Kazuichi, who put his hands up in defense.

"'Aight I get it, you don't wanna talk about it! I wont ask anything!" He got up again, taking a long sip of his coffee before putting his backpack on halfway. "I've gotta meet with Miu so we can work on upgrading keeboy a bit."

"Keeboy? You mean that robot you guys are working on?" He got a nod, and Kazuichi left. K1-B0, or kiibo, was the robot prototype that Miu and Kazuichi were building. They had gotten help from Chihiro and Chiaki to help program him. So far, he's been able to retain information that he learns by hearing it and has picked up on some modern slang and talked almost human. It was a very interesting experiment, and Leon supported the two through it all.

He got up and left, deciding he'd finish the coffee later. On his way out, he noticed an old classmate of his giving him a wave. He knew him from anywhere. Byakuya Togami, the man who was set to inherit his family's business. He was only here for courses such as business management and the like, but it was nice seeing a familiar face around. Leon considered Byakuya as a friend, considering that the prodigy acknowledged him and wasn't bothered by his presence. Leon gave a wave and smile back before walking out the door. 

The two spent time together in high school, Leon being able to actually lower his voice. Not to sound superior to his friends, but Mondo was unintentionally loud, same with Taka. And Hiro was too 'zooted' for Byakuya's liking. The only other part of the friend group that Byakuya could tolerate was Chihiro, but he came off as too cold for the poor boy to actually interact. During the time they got to hang out, Leon was able to find out that the blonde played cello, but never heard him play. Besides, classical music wasn't his taste back then. Now he was able to appreciate orchestra performances, but it still wasn't the best thing. He'd always prefer rock.

His thoughts led him to forget about where he was, but he made it back to his dorm absentmindedly. Leon opened the door, immediately hearing some Nirvana playing from their kitchen speaker, and the clatter of pots and pans. 

"Leon! Can you help?" Leon went over to see Mondo at the stove, looking distraught at a pan that seemed to have what looked like pepper slices. "I need to cook these but I don't know how to start!"

Leon looked into the pan before going to the cupboard. "Put some oil in the pan." He grabbed some of the few spices they had stored away; salt, pepper, parsley, and italian spice. He shook some of each in to the pan before handing Mondo a wooden spoon. "There."

"Thanks bro! You're a life saver!" Mondo put the spoon down after mixing it a bit turning to Leon. 

"What's the occasion?" 

"Oh, Taka's coming over later for a movie date and I wanted to make him something instead of ordering out. So I was wondering-"

"You want me to leave for the night?" Leon chuckled as Mondo nodded, smug look growing on the redhead's face. "Nah I get it, man. I have a gig late tonight. I'll probably crash at someone's place." He grabbed a cola from the fridge before continuing. "Besides, I didn't want to hear one of you getting slammed into a mattress tonight."

Mondo's look of shock and faked anger made Leon audibly laugh, opening the can with a pop and leaving the biker to cook. He flopped on to the couch, scrolling on his phone to wait for time to pass.

Tonight the band was going to meet at six, get two hours of practice in, have a half hour to set up at the bar, and then play at nine. It was going to be great, one of their important performances. They called themselves "Revival of the Remnants", and they had a good setup. Sayaka was the main singer of the group. She helped with lyrics sometimes but not really. She wasn't Leon's favorite person, who was somewhat nice but her pettiness from doing real shows was evident in her know-it-all attitude. Leon questioned why he even had a crush on her in high school, considering he had no interest anymore.

Ibuki was one of Leon's favorite people that he'd ever met. She was loud, outgoing, and always pepped up the band when Sayaka made it seem like they weren't doing good. She was on backup vocals and would switch between bass and guitar depending on what she and Leon came to an agreement on. And then there was Kazuichi, another good friend. They got along well, but sometimes Leon needed his space. It wasn't Kazuichi's fault, though. He didn't know how to be around others because of his childhood. His anxiety from this made him stim his hands a lot, and to stop the stimming, he worked to build things. Or, in the case of being in the band, drumming. He did it quite well, quickly picking up on the drumset he was loaned to fix and was told to keep.

Five thirty hit and Leon got up. Mondo was working on dinner still, but it was just letting the vegetables simmer and wait for the sausages in the pan cook. There was only enough for Mondo and Taka, but Leon always got take out before practice. He packed a bag with his notebook, extra picks, and jacket for night if it got cold. And of course, he grabbed his guitar case. He also grabbed about three bottles of water before walking out, Mondo yelling a goodbye before the door closed.

He walked to a fast food restaurant nearby, getting a burger and some fries for later before going on the course to Ibuki's house. They practiced there, and then Kazuichi would drive them to the bar. Leon knocked on the door to be greeted by Sayaka, who just looked him up and down. He came in a black tank top and some black ripped jeans, guitar pick earrings dangling from his bottom set of gauges. She let him get through, and Ibuki immediately wrapped him in a hug. "Yo! Leo-man! We're just waiting on Soda-pop!"

Leon chuckled, setting his bag down. "Yeah. I didn't see the neon car in the driveway so I guessed." He got opened the bag of food, looking up before reaching in. "Hey, it's chill if I eat this before Kazu gets here, right?" 

Ibuki nodded, but Sayaka looked him up and down again, this time with a look that wasn't too happy. "You're actually eating that?" 

"Uh, yeah?" He looked up at her, annoyed look on his face. "Mad you don't have a high metabolism?" He took a very asshole-ish bite of a fry to accentuate his point, Sayaka rolling her eyes before walking to make sure the microphone was in check. Ibuki had a bit of a dejected look before hearing the door open, Kazuichi walking in while spinning his car keys on his fingers. 

"Soda pop!" Ibuki crushed him with a hug before walking to the middle of the room. "Ok! We're good to start!" 

Leon put away his half-eaten burger and got his guitar out of the case. It was a black electric guitar decorated in different band logos. But on the side, he painted the numbers 11037, something Byakuya had pointed out in their Senior year of high school when he saw Leon write his name across from the table, reading it upside down and misunderstanding for a moment. They both got a laugh out of it.

The practice went smoothly if Leon didn't count on how many times Sayaka insisted on restarting in the middle of the songs just because she wanted to. Nobody could fight her decision, considering she made the band. If she wanted to break them up and leave, that would hurt them. She sang the alt part of songs, and Ibuki was more comfortable singing for death metal so it wouldn't work. 

It wasn't too long before everything was getting packed in to the bright green car, decals on the sides that looked like something on a taxi. Leon sat in the back with Ibuki, just staring out the window. The city lights were glowing with their bright reds, blues and purples. Something about night gigs made him feel adrenaline rush through his veins. They'd have a crowd watching them tonight. Some strangers, some from their school. And it was going to be great.

When they got to the bar, the staff offered to set up for them, following the basic instructions as to what goes where. Leon went to the bar, ordering a shot. It was given to him, and he sighed as he felt the burn of the liquid go down his throat. The warm feeling enveloped him for a second, but he let himself come back to reality. He wasn't gonna get drunk before the show. Maybe after, though. He was called over soon enough, told to stay backstage and hydrate. 

They were on in 20 minutes.


End file.
